9 - The Brightest Flame

[CATALONIA, 2018]

Under the dazzling and beautiful sun...

“Lucia!” The older woman yelled from across the kitchen. “Come eat your food! It’ll get cold.”

“A bit later, mama!” The girl replied. She was way too invested in playing whatever game managed to capture her attention on her phone.

“I will not repeat myself!” The woman exclaimed, before sitting down by the table herself. The stew she used to make every other day filled the house with its fragrant and powerful smell, it was one that told a story of warmth and homecoming to whoever experienced it.

The cozy home was in one of the coastal towns in Catalonia. The father was a worker overseas, and the mother was a teacher at the town’s school - she was a strict but lovely woman respected by everyone. The daughter, Lucia, was the little gem of the family. She was adorable, fun, energetic, and celebrated every day of her life with joy.

The son of the family, however...

“Mama, I’m home!” Diego said, being bold enough to enter the house while late for dinner.

“Diego Solano! How many times will you let your food go to waste, huh?!” His mother said. “I’ll feed it to the stray dogs next time.”

“It’s not wasted yet though, is it?” He said, quickly running into his room and changing. As he came back in his home attire, his eyes were dead set on the delicious food his mother made.

“Go ahead, Diego.” His mother said with a tone that implied something was seriously wrong.

“Uhh...”

“...”

“Did I...do something?”

“You’re asking me?” His mother said, before quickly hitting her hand on the desk. “Diego, have you been skipping college?!”

“Huh? W-who told you that?”

“Today our neighbors were visiting, and they told me she saw you in the streets earlier!”

“Oh, that...” Diego quickly looked around. “I was-”

“You’ll just be lying to yourself. What the hell were you doing?” His mother asked, now genuinely upset.

“I was trying to make a few extra bucks!” Diego said. “Gotta learn to make money, right? I’m not gonna live off of you now am I?”

“You’re worried about money?! Don’t use it as an excuse. We have enough money to get by just fine. Your father and I are working very hard to ensure you get proper education. It’s more important than making pennies with whoever you like on the streets!

“So...you wanna hear the truth, then?” Diego asked, suddenly sounding much more dreamy.

“...Truth?”

“Yes, I’ll just be honest. I’ve been skipping classes a lot lately.” Diego said. His mother was already shocked enough from that statement, but what followed would almost make her blood pressure high enough to turn her into a bomb.

“I don’t want to go to college anymore, mama.” Diego sighed. “I want to do what I can do best. Small hustles in the street, I can turn them into big businesses, alright? I already made a little fortune today, and that’s just with reselling junk food and telling jokes on the street! Imagine what I can do if I hit it big!”

“Diego...”

“You’ll have to trust me, okay? I’ll become big, bigger than anyone in this little town! I’ll make sure dad doesn’t work a single day in his life, I’ll buy you a villa on the other coast! I’ll give Lucia enough money for university and anything she wants to do!”

Diego suddenly stopped. He thought that this would devolve into a usual shouting match between him and his mother - not one stemming from rage, but from love, honesty and an attempt to understand one another. But instead...

“Diego, you’re an adult now, aren’t you?”

“Y-yeah, on paper I am.”

“Not just on paper, Diego. Don’t give me that stupid technicality.” His mother sighed. “You’re an adult. You’re the one responsible for your life. Since I heard you out, allow me to say a few words to you.”

“Yeah...”

“Diego, all me and your father want is for you to live a good life. That’s what every parent wants.” His mother said. “It was clear as day to me that you don’t care about your education. But pursuing your so-called hustles will not help you feed us, let alone your own family.”

Diego paused for a bit.

“Mama, I understand that. But I really can’t do it with college anymore. I won’t be a lawyer, or even some boring analytics man or manager. All those numbers, all those papers...I feel like I’m being wasted on something I can’t be.”

“Then what do you want to be?” His mother asked.

“I want to be...myself. A star that burns with passion.” Diego said. He didn't have pyrokinesis yet, but his eyes were burning with an infectious passion. “I know I can make it into stardom. I just...I just know it.”

“Look at you, damn poet. Your father writes better poetry when he’s drunk.” His mother replied with a subtle smile. “You’ll have to make the decision yourself, Diego. You’re the one who needs to choose what you’ll be. But whatever you choose...”

“Hm?”

“I want you to be serious about it.” His mother said.

After finishing his plate of food, he wanted to initially go to his own room. But on his way there he decided to pay a visit to his sister. She was only 10, but she was the brightest mind around.

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“Lucia...” Diego said, entering the neatly decorated room. Lucia was laying on her bed, playing games.

“Hi, big bro!” She said with excitement.

“You forgot to eat your food again, didn’t you?” Diego asked, disappointed. He sat down on her bed.

“Mama didn’t have enough meat to make three bowls, but she’s pretty hungry.” Lucia said. “I want her to have the food. Besides, I had some food in school already.”

“Well look at you, how charitable!” Diego said, patting her head. He reached into his pocket and gave her a small bar of candy. “Take this.”

“Uwah!!!” She exclaimed. “It’s my favorite! Thank you, Diego!”

“Take care. I made some good money today.” Diego said, laying on the bed. ”I wanna save up and buy myself a laptop. I heard the internet is an awesome place for making more money.”

“All you think about is money, Diego.”

“Cause that’s all we need right now.”

“That’s all you’ll need too.”

“But, big bro...” Lucia put her phone away. “How are you going to make money if you’re unemployed and bum around on the streets all the time?”

“Ugh, don’t put it that way!” Diego exclaimed. “But yeah...I’m thinking of quitting college. I want to set up my own business or hit it big in the entertainment industry. I think I can do both. Well, I will be doing both if I get into entertainment.”

“Hehe...you want to be a clown?” Lucia giggled.

“And you’ll be the circus horse.” Diego grunted. A brief pause later...

“I believe you can do it, big bro.” Lucia said.

“Oh, wow...” Diego said, taken aback. “Here I thought you’d call me a clown again and tell me to stop bumming around.”

“You should still stop bumming around.” Lucia smirked. “Which one is it, business or entertainment?”

“I think...entertainment. I’ll be a businessman second, but an entertainer first.” Diego said. “An actor...a comedian...I mean, you’re looking at the school’s best scriptwriter and stage performer!”

“I thought you only picked acting as one of your high school classes to avoid mathematics...” Lucia said.

“That’s also true, hey, I never denied that.” Diego said. “But now I’m being serious.”

“But I want you to promise something to me, okay?” Lucia requested.

“Hm? What is this?”

“I want you to be the best and brightest person ever!” She exclaimed with laughter. “I don’t want you to half-ass it like you did with school or college. I want you to be the brightest flame!”

“Sure thing, you little gremlin.” Diego smiled, scrambling her hair.

“Big bro, you’re really funny, and you love us a lot, so you’ll be a great actor! You’ll get rich and famous and get a hot girlfriend too!”

“Yeah, I hope the last one is true...” Diego sighed.

“If it happens, maybe you’ll stop crying because all the girls you talk to end up dumping you because you’re unemployed!”

“Can you shut it?!” Diego yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders. She was laughing her heart away.

“Here, pink promise?” Lucia said, extending her fragile pinky.

“Sure thing.” Diego smiled. They sealed their promise...

“It was like something clicked inside me.”

“I’ll be the brightest flame, Lucia.” Diego said. “Or the brightest star, whatever that means. But I’ll make you happy.”

“Mama wanted my best, father was working overseas to support us, and Lucia trusted me to chase my dreams.”

“I’d become a famous entertainer...”

“I’d make a lot of money and retire my parents, and I’d make sure Lucia was set for life.”

“And so I did it.”

[2024]

Diego took a bite out of the marshmallows that he roasted with his rapier over fire.

“I got hot girlfriends, many of them. They were so crazy in bed I thought I’d pass away every time. They threw themselves at me and my wallet as if we were swimming pools.”

“I made a lot of money. Both of my parents now live in an island in the Caribbean, in the most luxurious homes I could find for them. And Lucia is now in Paris, studying in one of the best art schools in the world.”

“I hope I made them proud.”

Diego seemed content in the peaceful night atmosphere. He pierced another marshmallow and started roasting it, slowly turning his rapier around, making sure it was cooked properly.

“I remember just how excited I was when the global soul event happened. I went from acting as superheroes to becoming one. Already successful, Kaito Kamiki saw great potential within me and allowed me to flourish in the GSC. And the opportunities...everyone told me that I had a certain special fire in my personality, and Kaito Kamiki himself told me that it was ironic how my soul expression is all about controlling fire.”

“They told me how I was crucial. How I was needed. They said that without me, the world would be a much, much worse play. They said that as long as I keep entertaining the masses, things will go smoothly.”

“I got to do what I like for a cause that matters on a grand scale. Think about a dream life...”

“I picked this habit up in America.” Diego said. “Me and a group of actors went on a camping trip after shooting a movie back in ‘21. I was shocked to see that people genuinely enjoy roasting marshmallows and eating them. I thought you were only supposed to eat them as they were in the package.”

“But then I started roasting them too. And whenever I went on a trip, I roasted my marshmallows.” He said, observing the small pale peace of food that was getting charred on the flame. “I realized later that the purpose of doing so wasn’t to eat them, but to enjoy the roasting itself. Surrounded by people you know, by a cozy campfire, maybe late at night when the wind is neither too strong nor too calm.”

“I wouldn’t share such a night with you, though.” He abruptly said.

“You guys killed Hwang, didn’t you? That’s why he’s completely unresponsive. No matter how drunk he gets, he always, without an exception, responds to emergency calls. And you attacked Ichigo too.” He said, grabbing a dark green bottle of beer and drinking a quarter of it in one go.

“Do you know how hard that guy tries all the time? Do you know what he has to deal with? And most importantly, do you know what he does for me?”

“It’s hard to be me, even if it’s a dream life.”

“If I don’t take my mints for too long...”

“I’m not scared because I don’t know what I’ll be capable of. I’m scared because I know exactly what I can do when the wind takes me away...I’ve gone on countless missions as not an entertainer, but a proper combatant, I’ve fought alongside the Heisei’s hounds...”

Diego looked deeper into the flame and saw a scared man. A man that looked like himself, a man who lost and regained control, terrified of the burning mass in front of him. It took him a bit to realize the weight of that sin, but by that time, all he was left with was fear.

“Mr. Kamiki hooked me up with them in order to make sure I helped him instead of messing up his plans.”

“It’s scary knowing that I rely on them so much, and they’re starting to lose both their functionality and their presence...”

“Bet you can’t imagine that.” Diego chuckled, taking another sip of beer. For the next few moments, he zoned out.

He stared at the fire, the way it burned its fuel with no hesitation and regrets. It acted as a true force of nature, an element that is a source of warmth and beauty, but a calamity if left unchecked...

“Ah, it got burnt...” Diego commented, noticing that his marshmallow was far more charred than he’d like it to be. He tossed it away, took a few sips out of his flash and poured the rest of its content on the campfire. The fire flared up a little. But he couldn’t really be blamed for overcooking the marshmallow. After all, it was difficult for him to be half-drunk and properly roast marshmallows over a burning corpse. The corpse that used to be Tsunehiro.